1. Field of the Invention
This invention has to do with seats for accommodating operators in vehicles. Specifically the seat may be highly adaptable for use in industrial tractors having a front loader and a backhoe. The seat is mounted on a parallel linkage system which allows an instrument panel to accompany the seat as it moves from one position to another position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the specific example of excavating equipment such as those commonly called "loader-backhoes" it has been necessary to provide provisions for accommodating the vehicle operator when the vehicle is being used as a loader or conversely as a backhoe.
The loader portion of a loader backhoe is the portion mounted to operate at the front of the vehicle. In a conventional loader backhoe the front of the vehicle generally houses the vehicle engine as well as the steerable wheels of the vehicle. The backhoe portion of the vehicle generally is mounted at the rear of the vehicle which usually supports the traction wheels of the vehicle.
The evolution of the loader backhoe saw a conventional tractor first equipped with an add-on loader. From this point it became obvious to provide a trench digging unit, a "backhoe" , to augment the loader at the front of the vehicle.
As the conventional tractor evolved into loader-backhoes it became obvious that the vehicle operator could not operate the equipment at either end of the vehicle from a centrally located seat. Thus, early loader backhoes were provided with two seats. One seat was in the conventional position behind the steering wheel and was used when operating a loader and the other seat was located on the aft portion of the vehicle. The seat at the aft portion of the vehicle was usuallly attached to and provided with the backhoe attachment. It was usually impossible to operate the vehicle from the backhoe operating seat.
The next relevant evolutionary item in the development of the seating arrangement of the loader backhoe was to use a single seat that could be flipped over from a forward facing position to convert into a rearward facing position. Oftentimes the podium supporting the seat was designed to allow different elevations between the forward facing position and the rearward facing position. Thus, when the seat was forward to either transport the vehicle or dig with the front end loader the seat would be at a normal elevation. This was necessary as the vehicle operator in these instances needed to be able to operate foot pedal controls such as brakes and clutches. However, when the tractor was being used as a backhoe the operator did not need to be able to reach the clutch and brake pedals but higher elevation did assist him in seeing what he was digging with his backhoe.
In a flip-flop seat of the type described it was also common to have the cushion portion of the seat also act as the backrest portion when the seat had been positioned to the backhoe operating position. Of course when the seat was in the normal position the seat cushion resumed its normal functions as did the backrest. A Self Positioning Seat, U.S. Pat. No 3,747,723 of Peterson et. al. of the same assignee as this invention may be considered the forerunner of the invention presented herein. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,723 a pivoting seat is shown which may be construed as very similar to the seat part of this invention. However, this invention is directly concerned with the mounting of an instrument panel to the seat swivel mechanism such that the panel follows the seat to any location to which the seat is moved.
The instant invention, wherein the seat pivots on a parallel linkage from one position to another position while taking the instrument panel along with it, is obviously different from the type of multi-position seats formerly in use on loader-backhoes.
The prior art seat configurations are somewhat deficient in light of the seat herein presented. For instance the use of two seats where only one seat is used at any time is redundant and leads to costly duplication of equipment. The flip-flop type seats, although an improvement over the two seat arrangement does not provide for the use of one set of vehicle monitoring gauges and instruments.